Because of You
by soojinah
Summary: Mimi and Sora are the daughters of some of the wealthiest families in Japan just starting college away from home in the greatest city in the world. The shopping is fabulous, the food is all sorts of amazing and the boys? JUST DIVINE. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Because of You**

 _Hello there! This is a story that kind of allows me to give in to my vices, namely marshmallow fluffy romance and luxury goods lol. It's fun to write and hopefully fun to read. This is an AU story but still, I tried to keep them as close to their original characters as possible. Please read and review :)_

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Mimi was nervous. Incredibly so.

Today was the first day of college, away from her parents, half the world away from Japan. In New York City. _New York freakin' City!_

Brushing out her long wavy cinnamon hair, Mimi studied her reflection in the vanity mirror for a moment. She'd opted for a more natural look, with a slight dusting of coral pink blush over the apple of her cheeks and a soft red lip tint. Her honeyed eyes were lined with a dark brown pencil and her long lashes swept up with a single coat of mascara.

 _I look pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Mmhmm._

Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her pink Birkin 40cm with gold hardware-it had been a graduation gift from her parents as well as the spacious West Village 2 bedroom apartment that she shared with her best friend, Sora Takenouchi.

The two had been best friends since before they were even conceived, as their parents were very close friends.

Mimi Tachikawa was the only daughter and heiress to her father's tech company, Saboten Tech.

Sora Takenouchi was the only daughter of famed Japanese fashion mogul Toshiko Takenouchi who had designed Satoe Tachikawa's wedding dress for Mimi's parents' fairy tale wedding.

As such, the pair was close. Inseparable, really.

"Mimi! Are you ready?!" Sora peeked her head into Mimi's room, her short orange hair was still sleek with dampness from her shower this morning.

"Yeah, as ready as I can be. How do I look?" The brunette, dressed in a simple drape-y white blouse and denim cut-off shorts, struck a pose for her friend. Sora smiled as she leaned against the door, and Mimi noticed her face glowed despite being devoid of all traces of make up.

 _Grrr lucky girl. She isn't even trying! And what the heck, how come my hips are so small compared to Sora?_

"Lovely, my dear. Now get your ass out of there, we're going to be late for our first class." Sticking her tongue out at her childhood friend, Mimi grabbed her darling Prada baroque sunglasses before putting on a pair of bright red Converse sneakers.

"Whatever. This isn't high school, you know."

"Yeah but still. It's the _first day._ " Sora hoisted her Louis Vuitton back pack over her one shoulder. As the daughter of a designer, there was a certain amount of pressure to always look put together and today was no exception, even if no one at school'd even knew who she was.

"Meems, if you don't hurry, I'm leaving without you." One foot clad in a Doc Martens lace up boot in black was already out the door, anxious to get going. She'd chosen a light yellow hoodie over a pair of denim shorts, not the most fashionable of outfits, for sure, but comfortable and familiar.

"Ok, ok, I'm here, I'm ready, ok?" Mimi huffed as she ran around, looking for her phone. She smiled victoriously when she finally found it partially hidden under a stack of papers on their white granite counter.

Sora rolled her eyes as she tried to suppress a smile. Mimi was never on time for anything, she was even born 3 weeks late and even then that was due to the doctors having to induce her mother's labor. And she'd gotten so big in utero that the doctors were forced to perform an emergency c-section although looking at the girl now, it was hard to believe she'd once been _too big_ for anything.

Then again, Sora wondered how women even pushed those suckers out of their vaginas in the first place. She'd seen babies before, even newborns were _huge_ compared to… well whatever.

"Sora, if you keep rolling your eyes, they're going to get stuck up there one of these days, and it will be most unbecoming!" Mimi grabbed Sora by the arm and together they made their way out of the apartment, opting to go down the stairs than to wait for the elevator and greeted the doorman cheerily before walking out into the sunny NYC morning.

It hit both girls at the same time that they were actually going to spend the next 4 years attending college in the greatest city in the world.

Their eyes met momentarily before they both broke into peals of laughter, ecstatic at the thought, before they began the 15 minute walk to campus.

* * *

SHIT.

Taichi Kamiya had overslept. On the first day of school. As per usual.

And as per usual, his best friend and now roommate Yamato Ishida had gotten ready and left for school all by himself without even an attempt at waking the wild haired brunette.

What a bastard.

Scrambling around the spacious penthouse loft he shared with the blonde, Taichi managed to get himself presentable, throwing on a navy blue hoodie over a pair of khaki trousers and the first pair of shoes he managed to find in the walk in closet.

 _Who the hell designed a closet to be so large? Who needs this many clothes anyways!  
_

Taichi was not used to this, waking up late, not having his clothes pulled out, not having his breakfast ready on a tray with his coffee done _just so._

 _But then you idiot, it was your brilliant idea to go to school in NY, without a full staff to man the house. And for what? A fucking_ normal _college experience!_

His hair was a mess, a wild mass of untameable chocolate hair that seemed to have a life of its own. Sighing, Tai managed to tame it down just a bit before giving up. It was useless.

Even his hair was against him today.

Picking up his phone and wallet, he grabbed a pair of aviators and walked out the door, backpack, notebooks or other school supplies be damned. He'd deal with it later.

* * *

The professor was droning on and on about the syllabus. Yamato Ishida was barely able to keep his ocean blue eyes from drooping.

Who really gave a damn about the syllabus anyway? He sighed loudly and shifted in his seat. The air being blown into the large lecture hall was stale and musty and the blonde cringed at the thought of breathing in other peoples' dust.

So far, none of the other students seemed to catch Yamato's interest even though there were easily over a 100 students packed into the stadium seats.

 _Come to think of it, where is Taichi? Its been around 30 minutes since class started._

As if right on cue, the door creaked open. The professor briefly stopped his droning and glanced up at late newcomers. Yamato also turned around as composed as he could manage, fully expecting to see his wild haired friend.

Instead, there were two girls. Two very _beautiful_ girls.

Hot damn. He couldn't even classify them as hot, they were beautiful. Understated but classy.

Just about everyone in the room followed the girls as they made their way down towards a pair of empty seats, their hair glistening in the dim light of the lecture hall. The pair seemed to glow, and Yamato swore there was some kind of angelic choir music playing in the background as they settled down into the seats and one flipped her long wavy hair over her shoulder.

Even the professor seemed to be checking them out, the creeper. _Jesus, what the hell? He could be their father. Goddamn perverts._

The older man, easily in his fifties, rubbed at his white mustache and was just about to open his mouth when the doors banged open.

Yamato smirked. This time, it was definitely Taichi for sure.

The tall, confident brunette strolled in leisurely and took a seat diagonally from where Yamato sat, not even bothering to take off his sunglasses. When his friend finally caught sight of Yamato smirking at him, Taichi took off his glasses and scowled at him.

Yamato raised an eyebrow at his friend before turning back to the professor who had once again started his rambling, and he knew the gesture would infuriate his friend even further. When he still felt the burning stare of his friend's eyes at the side of his head a good 10 minutes later, he turned around to see Taichi immediately flip him the middle finger.

Smiling, Yamato returned the gesture and was able to see Taichi's brow crease furiously before turning back to the creeper who was now talking about the basics of economics and proceeded to ignore his friend for the rest of the lecture.

 _That bastard. What would I do without him?_

* * *

 _Short chapter, at least for me. Well, please R &R :)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Because of You 2**

 _Hey guys! Thanks for the kind reviews/follows/favs! I really appreciate it!_

 _As for the name dropping and luxuries, it's one of my vices but I will try to keep it to a minimum-it will become more apparent why they're rich kids later on :)_

 _And if it the relationships seems to be moving kinda quick here, it's just based from my own memory of being 18 and in college and everything was new and fun and hormones were crazy. It will eventually mellow out after the initial attraction, after all, I'm not sure what pairings I want to do anyways although I made it a Mimato/Taiora this chapter._

 _well, thanks for reading, please review!_

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

* * *

Taichi was fuming. He couldn't believe it.

 _And that bastard calls himself my best friend._

"Glad you made it to class. I was beginning to think you weren't going to grace us with your presence." If it was up to Taichi, he would've wiped that smug smirk off of Yamato Ishida's face with a nice clean upper cut. However, he was in no mood to start a fight with the blonde right in front of the campus police.

"Fuck off, you bastard. You didn't even try to get me up."

"Yeah well, as I recall the last time I tried to wake you, I ended up with a busted lip."

Taichi rolled his eyes. "That was only _once_! God, you're such a girl, get over it already."

Seriously. It was only once. And to be fair, he was hungover at the time and Yamato was being a prick and trying to get him up at 10AM on a goddamn Sunday morning! _Who the hell gets up at 10AM on a Sunday?!_

His friend shook his head, unable to resist a smile creeping into his face. His golden blonde hair fell over his face and it annoyed the hell out of Tai that his own hair was so unmanageable whereas his friend always looked like he'd just had it styled.

Yamato pushed up the sleeves of the black button up he'd worn over a pair of dark rinse jeans and boots before turning towards the front of the cavernous lecture hall.

"Whatever man. Hey, check out those girls over there." He gestured with his chin and Taichi turned around to see a small crowd of boys surrounding a pair of girls still seated at their seats.

His warm chocolate brown eyes widened as he _really_ saw them. A brunette and a ginger. Pretty faces on both. And _legs. Amazing_ legs.

Suddenly, he wasn't so annoyed at deciding to attend NYU Stern with his supposed best friend.

The next 4 years were starting to look much more interesting.

"Well, hello."

* * *

Sora Takenouchi was annoyed, more than anything.

First, they'd managed to get distracted on their walk to campus with a _cupcake_ shop of all things and had gone down the walk of shame 30 minutes into the lecture.

Second, after sitting in the hall for 15 minutes, they'd figured out they were in the wrong lecture.

Third, immediately after the professor _finally_ finished talking, they were swamped by a horde of overly eager boys.

 _Ugh, can this day get even worse?  
_

From beside her, her best friend Mimi sighed loudly as she stood up, clutching her prized pink Birkin in one hand and the remainder of her morning soy caramel macchiato with sugar free syrup in the other.

They'd managed to politely turn down groups of boys with one little excuse after another and while they _had_ expected to meet boys, they hadn't expected on being...well, being so popular.

"Sor, I am so done. Let's go get brunch." The cupcakes from this morning, red velvet for Mimi and a black and white for Sora, were not settling very well, although Sora wasn't quite sure if it was from having chocolate from the morning or the anxiety of starting college.

"Brunch sounds really good right about now." Surprised and unable to suppress a groan of frustration, the girls turned around to face the owner of the confident voice.

 _Oh wow. This one's not too bad actually. And his friend- not bad at all._

Both boys were tall, very tall, and well proportioned. The one who'd agreed to Mimi's suggestion for brunch had a thick mass of wild chocolate brown hair with amazingly warm melty eyes to match. His wonderfully bronzed complexion actually seemed to glow and Sora greatly appreciated how his well muscled physique seemed to show from under his clothes.

Not that she was trying to imagine him _without_ clothes.

 _But still, he'd probably look super sexy lounging at the beach or something._

She blushed as looked away from the warm gaze and studied his friend slightly behind him. _This_ one was beautiful in a very different sort of way, pale with piercingly blue eyes, golden sunlit hair that was styled _just so_ and a strong chiseled jaw. He was tall and lean and effortlessly cool and his countenance reminded Sora of a relaxed tiger- an intensity masked under a blase facade.

"Name's Tai, by the way and my friend here is Matt."

 _Tai and Matt, huh?_

"Sora. And this is Mimi."

* * *

Tai and Matt.

 _God. Even their names are sexy._

Mimi silently thanked the heavens for the gifts to womankind everywhere now standing before them. Secretly, she'd been feeling pretty guilty for getting them both _late_ to the _wrong_ lecture on their _first_ day of university.

Until one minute ago, she'd been convinced _someone_ up there hated her and was just out to make her life here at NYU utterly miserably.

 _Now_ however, she was convinced their mishaps from the morning had been _fate_. After all, what were the chances that they'd have met these fine specimens of men if they _hadn't_ made those tiny mistakes this morning?

And hello! _Both_ boys were equally attractive in their own way, so that meant she and Sora wouldn't have to passive-aggressively fight each other over the hot one. It didn't hurt that they both seemed to be stylish as well and she felt like giggling when she noticed that Tai was dressed similarly to Sora in a hoodie while Matt matched her blouse and jeans look with a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up casually.

 _Although of course, we aren't shallow. Just...ok, fine, it's just so much_ easier _to fall in love with someone attractive, yeah?_

She glanced at her friend and they shared a look that confirmed her best friend was just as smitten with these boys as she was.

Mimi couldn't decide which one she was more attracted to: Tai with his warm and confident smile or Matt with his cool but intense gaze.

 _Oh GOD._

Would opposites look good together? Because then she and Tai could totally complement each other, he could be the athletic sexy beast to her lithe pale beauty.

Or would she go better with Matt? They could be effortlessly chic and stylish together, the rebel with the princess.

 _Oh wow, you silly! Conceited much, are we?_

Suddenly, her cheeks burned at the realization that, _OMG_ she'd just met them.

 _Like, what if they turn out to be total jerks and woman beaters under those charming smiles? Or like, what if they're rapists or really stupid or serial killers or..._ gasp! _gold diggers?!_

Oh wells. She'd have to get to _know_ them to determine if they were jackasses, right?

Mimi bit her lower lip hesitatingly before smiling coyly, tucking a lock of cinnamon brown hair behind one ear.

"So, have a place in mind big boy?"

* * *

Yamato's strikingly blue eyes followed Mimi's hand as it reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear. He wanted to reach out and touch that silky hair, run his fingers through her thick soft curls and bury his face against her neck where her hairline and smooth milky skin met.

Women, as it were, happened to be one of his _many_ vices.

Goddamn it. They were even more beautiful up close and he hated the way he felt so exposed and helpless to their gazes.

Sora smiled at something Taichi said, and Yamato felt weak at the sight of her kind ruby eyes. He hadn't even known that eye color could exist in real life but hell, it _worked._

"Well, I was thinking of Tartine's but it's a bit far. If you don't want to walk then I'm sure there's something else…" Yamato was amused. It seemed even Taichi was getting shy around the girls.

"Tartine it is." Sora grinned brightly at his friend again and Yamato felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched the two heading for the doors, Tai's hand against the small of the redhead's back.

But not for long.

Mimi looked up at Yamato with her large doe eyes and Yamato swore he could feel his insides melting. They were so clear that he could see his reflection against the golden honeyed irises and he determined he rather liked what he saw.

Smiling, he held out his arm and felt a flutter in his chest as Mimi slipped her arm through, her small hand resting gently against his bicep.

"Mimi, right? Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Mmhm. Same here, Matt."

* * *

Tartine was a quaint little French cafe on the corner of West Eleventh and Fourth. The interior was small and cozy and the aroma of fresh brewed coffee greeted them as the four got a table near the door.

Sora couldn't help it. She was so giddy.

Everything seemed like a dream, sitting in a cafe in New York with her best friend in the company of two boys too beautiful to be real.

And the best part? The attraction seemed to be mutual.

It turned out she had a lot in common with Tai, the one now sitting across from her, the tip of his one sneaker grazing the side of her bare leg from under the table as he sat casually with one leg crossed over the other.

It was a cramped table. And his legs were long. It couldn't be helped.

And yet, Sora felt a shiver down her spine at the slightest touch from this wonderful boy.

 _Stop acting like a little thirteen year old girl with a thirteen year old crush._

He smiled as he took a piece of the complimentary bread with butter.

"So you guys said you're from Japan?"

Sora nodded as she sipped from her orange juice, her voice stuck in her throat. _God,_ sitting up close to him, she could see every little nuance in color of his warm eyes, not just a plain brown but a rich mahogany with golden undertones. And the way they seemed to crinkle when he smiled? _Magical._

"Yeah, but we went to an international school for elementary and were privately tutored for high school."

Tai raised an eyebrow and Sora found herself furiously blushing. _Why did you have to mention the private tutor bit? Now he thinks you're stuck up or weird._

"That's cool. Matt and I are also Japanese. But we went to school here in the States." Japanese? They didn't look Japanese, especially Matt with his blonde hair and blue eyes. _Hmm, maybe contacts?_

But then again, she and Mimi were also Japanese but of mixed heritage on both sides of their family so maybe the same could be said for them as well?

"Well, since we're new to the US, why don't you show us around?" Tai grinned widely and Sora's heart melted.

"I have no objections to that."

* * *

Yamato was not one to open up to strangers easily. In fact, in all the years, Taichi was the only one real friend he had made.

Sure, he was a master flirt. But flirting and having an intimate relationship-emotionally, was an entirely different beast altogether.

That was why he was so amazed that Mimi had managed to sneak in past his emotional blocks to sift through his life at her leisure. He found himself telling her all sorts of shit about his life, like she was his goddamn shrink, and it terrified him a little that he did.

Yamato was trying very hard to not show how enamored he was with the girl sitting across from him. And he was especially trying hard to fight the creeping blush up his neck and across his face as she examined his hands with her own.

Her hands were soft and silky, the caresses whisper light as she ran the tips of her long tapered fingers across his.

"How long have you played the guitar for?" It felt like little jolts of electricity up his spine every time their skin met.

Yamato stared at Mimi, their gazes meeting, and he grasped her hands gently but firmly from across the table.

"Since middle school. I was in a band but it's been a while." She smiled coyly again and slipped her hands from his and he watched enraptured as she swept her long wavy hair lit up by the sunlight all over her one shoulder. Her blouse was left with a few undone buttons and Yamato admired the sight of her pale milky decolletage flushed a light pink.

He ached to kiss the hollow of her throat where the twin collarbones met.

 _Play it cool, Ishida. She's just a girl._

Girls were always plentiful around the blonde and his friend. Yamato had no problems seeing a girl and quickly forgetting her after a few days. He quietly hoped Mimi was no different. Otherwise, he realized he'd just told this girl a tad more of his personal life then he cared for someone to know and he rather much not deal with the repercussions.

But that was for him to brood over some over time. For now Yamato decided to enjoy the company of this pretty female and her friend.

"You should play for us sometime. I'd like to hear your stuff."

"Yeah. You play?" She shook her head, and Yamato was yet again amazed by how the sun gleamed against her hair.

"I like to sing, though. Maybe we can sing together sometime." Their waitress returned with their orders and placed plates of various breakfast foods in front of them. Mimi'd ordered apple pancakes and Yamato thought it suited her.

Sweet, elegant and classy but at the sametime playful.

 _Goddamn it, Ishida. She's just a girl. She's just a girl. She's just a girl._

* * *

The food smelled amazing. A whiff of cinnamon hit her palate before the sweetness of the sugar, the tartness of the thinly sliced apples and the slightly crispy pancake exploded against her tongue.

Mimi was in love. She was in love with Tartine, she was in love with New York City, she was in love with the boy in front of her.

Blame it on teenager hormones but Mimi loved the way he lounged on the small wooden chairs, loved how his hair was a brilliant gold in the mid-morning sunlight, loved how his voice was a smooth sexy baritone…

Mimi sneaked a peek at her friend and was glad to see she seemed to get along with Tai as well as she with Matt.

 _Matt. And Mimi. M &M. That is so adorable. Like the chocolate candies._

She had another bite of her pancake and smiled at the thought.

"I am in love with this place."

Tai looked at her and grinned. He had such an endearing smile.

"I'm glad you like it."

* * *

The walk back to campus would have taken him and Matt just under ten minutes if it had been just the two of them. But with Sora and Mimi, the pace slowed down to a snail's pace as the four occasionally stalled in front of shop windows admiring the quirky displays and touristy junk.

"God, who would buy this shit?" Taichi mumbled to himself as he picked up a light up Statue of Liberty miniature.

"Hey, it's not that bad. I think it's actually kind of cute." Sora smiled as she took the small statue from him. Taichi rolled his eyes while grinning like an idiot.

"Adjectives like 'cute' should be used only to describe actually cute things. Like me, for instance." He raised one eyebrow and tried his best to imitate the guys he'd seen on those shopping bags. Taichi saw Yamato cover his eyes with one hand, shaking his head.

"I'm just going to pretend that just didn't come out of your mouth, Kamiya."

Sora giggled as she walked over to the man attending the stand and paid him for the statue. He placed it in a little plastic black bag and she immediately handed it to Tai.

Taichi stared at the bag for a moment before taking it from the pretty red head. He was confused.

"It's a gift. To keep you humble." Tai made an exaggerated disappointed face but was secretly pleased that things were going so well with Sora. She was hot as hell, into sports _and_ had the same twisted sense of humor he had.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to keep it up on the mantle, right next to my 'Model of the Year' awards."

"Oh, I'm sure you will."

Meanwhile, Yamato and his lady friend were busy trying on the various sunglasses on display. It seemed they would take a while.

The day had turned out to be warm and sunny and the rays felt good against his skin.

As casually as he could manage, he reached out and placed an arm across the redhead's shoulders. When she didn't visually object, _Thank GOD!,_ he grinned triumphantly.

Taichi knew it was cheesy but he just couldn't help himself.

* * *

Yamato looked good. Really good. Shit, these little plastic aviators were actually more suited to his face than the ludicrously expensive Tom Ford aviators he had at home.

He took advantage of the mirror to fix his hair. The wind from between the buildings had tossed his hair all out of place and it annoyed him. Just a little.

Suddenly Mimi popped up next to his reflection, donning a pair of bright red heart shaped sunglasses.

He couldn't suppress a smile as she frowned at her reflection.

"These aren't as pretty worn." Yamato removed the aviators he had on and replaced them with a pair of round John Lennon-esque glasses and looked down at the brunette beside him. Her eyes still twinkled behind the dark glass and his eyes softened.

"They aren't meant to be pretty. But you manage." She laughed softly, small creases appearing on her nose under the weight of the ungodly glasses.

"Thanks, I guess? By the way, the ones you had on earlier suited you _much_ better. But _these_ call for a selfie." Mimi took out her phone and, standing on her tip toes, pressed her temple against the side of his cheek.

The sudden contact caught him off guard and Yamato was grateful for the sunglasses covering his eyes. He recovered from the surprise quickly enough, tilting his head slightly down and to the side to bring out his best angles.

Having a photograph taken was a skill and it was a skill Yamato Ishida had mastered at an early age.

Mimi went into her gallery and brought up the photo they just took and Yamato leaned in closer to see the result.

From this close, her scent washed over him. She smelled of shampoo and sunshine and something flowery like the lilies his mother used to have around the house. There was something off-putting about the scent of lilies- something about his mother-but Yamato staunchly refused to dwell on that fact.

"Hmph. Actually, I think I kind of like these." Mimi zoomed in on herself in their photo. Evidently, Mimi had also mastered the skill of taking photographs.

Yamato shrugged and she looked back up at him. Due to their proximity, she ended up brushing the top of her hair against his lips and for the second time in ten goddamn seconds, this girl left Yamato breathless.

"What?"

"I told you. You manage. The glasses, they look nice on you."

He watched as her cherry red lips slowly spread into a wide smile, her cheeks pushing up against the pointed ends of each glass.

Goddamn it.

He wanted to kiss her so bad.

He didn't understand why he didn't.

Any other girl, he'd have kissed them already if he had wanted to.

But Mimi? _Why the hell was she so different?_

"Thanks, Matt. You're a sweetheart." She winked at him through her sunglasses before wandering away to show Sora.

The sound of the redhead and his friend's laughter reached Yamato as he stood where he was for a moment, trying to regain his cool composure.

The emotions running through him were foreign and it scared and confused him.

 _Be careful, Ishida. You don't know what kind of shit you're getting into._

* * *

 _Thanks for reading, please r/r :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been busy with work and better weather! I'll try to be more regular :)_

 _Don't really like how this turned out but it will have to do. I have a lot planned, hopefully I kept them in character at 18yrs old. I remember when I was 18, things were very different and I fell in love with someone new practically every other week, especially the first year of college._ _Just tying to build up their relationships :) Pretty much decided on Mimato and Taiora, which incidentally happen to be my favorite ships of all time. Please enjoy and R &R._

 _Thanks for reading! :)_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon._

* * *

Fashion week had been exhausting for the brunette and she sighed as the lady rubbed at her feet with the floral scented lotion. Running around the city from one venue to the next in heels just to wait hours for a show to begin was _so_ overrated.

Pedicures, however, were just about the most fabulous things in the world. Mimi Tachikawa smiled as she closed her eyes, relishing the soothing motions and wishing she could sit here in the luxurious heated leather recliner forever.

From beside her, her phone buzzed twice to indicate an incoming message.

Her long tapered fingers with her newly done sparkly gradient pink nails gingerly picked up her phone. The sight of her lock screen- a certain brooding blonde in sunglasses- made her heart skip a beat and she looked around at the high end salon sheepishly to ensure no one else had noticed the sudden childish grin that had appeared across her face.

Oh darn.

Sora smiled knowingly at her from her own pedicure seat and shook her head slightly. Mimi knew it annoyed the ginger that almost all she ever talked about _was_ Yamato Ishida but it couldn't be helped.

Besides, all Sora ever wanted to talk about was Taichi Kamiya anyways so it evened out Mimi supposed.

She opened up her messages and the grin grew even wider. It was from Ishida himself. She could practically hear the smooth baritone of his voice through his text, easy on the ears and heart warming.

 _-M, you free this weekend?_

Ha. Even if she _had_ plans previously (which she did not), she really had none now.

- _Possibly ;)_

She sent the message and set her phone down, drumming her fingers impatiently as she awaited his reply.

A minute passed. And then another.

 _Darn. I should have asked him WHY!_

The display lit up brightly against the dim lighting of the salon as Mimi repeatedly pressed the home button hoping to see a new message icon but nothing appeared.

She pursed her lips and leaned forward, resting her chin against the palms of her hands. Suddenly the soothing motions of the foot massage was more ticklish than anything and the caramel haired girl found everything about the salon annoyed her.

Like the annoying zen music. And the annoying chandeliers. And why did they heat the chairs anyways?! Mimi squirmed in her seat noting how her bare thighs clung to the leather and wondered just _what_ Matt was doing that he couldn't even spare a few seconds to text her back.

 _Why the hell is he such a tease?_ _Argh, he better not be-_

A sudden jolt went up from Mimi's hand clasped tightly around her phone up her arm, along her spine and through to the very ends of her silky shiny locks. A message!

Her large caramel eyes anxiously checked the sender of the text and her brow furrowed when she noticed it was from Sora and not Yamato.

 _-Sorry! Just had to see your reaction! :)_

Mimi was tempted to swear very loudly into the quiet calming space. Very tempted, indeed.

She glared at her redheaded friend, who was laughing so hard she was doubled over and shaking, before furiously typing a reply.

- _THAT WAS NOT FUNNY. I hate you._

Sora's response was a slightly blurred photo of Mimi's face contorted in surprise (her not-so-lovely double chin making an appearance, oh god!) as she stared frozen mid-blink at her phone.

The photo was positively hideous. It was the worst photo she's ever taken, by _far._

She looked like the purple monster from the old school Mcdonald's ad with long (albeit _fabulous_ ) hair.

- _OMG SORA. DELETE THAT, SERIOUSLY I HATE YOU!_

* * *

Sora drew a few shaky deep breaths to regain her composure. It was a little cruel on her part, she knew, to take advantage of the situation like that but the girl had it coming to her.

She wouldn't trade the photo for anything. It was hilarious, seeing Mimi so ungraceful.

It was _golden_.

(It was also Taichi Kamiya's influence on her. Prior to meeting the rambunctious, confident and funny brunette, Sora Takenouchi would never have done something like that. His good natured humor had been rubbing off on her, she supposed. And she rather liked it.)

The redhead grinned as her thumbs moved fluidly across her phone screen, typing a message of apology to her friend when her screen suddenly changed and Tai's grinning face popped up on her display.

Sora answered the call, covering the lower half of her face to muffle the sounds of her conversation as much as possible.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe, what are you up to?" _Babe._

Tai had recently taken to calling her babe, replacing the _Sor_ he'd occasionally use. It amazed Sora how fluidly the word rolled off of Tai's perfectly full lips and she basked silently in the warmth of his voice before answering.

"Just hanging out with Mimi. What about you?"

"Nothing important. I'd rather be hanging out with you. Where you at?" Sora had a hard time suppressing her smile. He could be so cheesy sometimes.

"Well, we'd love to have you join but only if you agree to have your toes painted. And I get to pick the color."

"Why can't I pick the color?"

"Because I said so."

"Touche. If I can't pick then I'm not going to go." Sora rolled her eyes before realizing the boy would not be able to 'hear' her actions.

"Hey, last time I checked, _you_ were the one dying to hang out with me."

"Ok, nobody said anything about dying. But I will swallow my pride and admit that yes, I do want to spend time with you."

"Ok, so umm-" Sora glanced over at her friend and when she noticed Mimi was staring back with a wistful, almost envious look on her face, she dropped her voice even lower to almost a whisper, "how about we get dinner or something in around an hour?"

"Deal. Where do you want to meet?"

"I don't know. Text me a place later and I'll see you there, k? Love you, bye!" Sora hastily mumbled the last bit before furiously jabbing at the end call button. She did not know what overcame her suddenly to say _that word_ and she hoped to god he didn't notice.

 _And God forbid if you did, please don't make a big deal out of it._

But then again, who cared if she said the _L_ word anyway? Friends loved each other, family loved each other and she definitely cared for Taichi so why not?

 _Ugh, but that's besides the point._

 _The point is that I am very much attracted to him. And I've only known him for about a month. And I don't want to make it weird before things are_ official.

Whatever.

What's done was done. Sora sank deeper into her recliner as her pedicurist skillfully followed her movement, applying a cheery orange star to one of her blue painted toes.

 _And maybe it_ is _time to make things official._

* * *

Taichi stared at his phone, the last few words from his conversation with Sora running through his head.

 _Love you bye,_ she'd said. _Love you bye._ A wide grin appeared across his chiseled features as he pulled his limbs together and pushed off the armchair he'd been sprawled across.

"Bro, I am winning at life!" Taichi announced to his friend Matt who stayed seated on the sofa from across him, strumming at his guitar idly.

The blonde gave him a cursory glance before adjusting one of the tabs.

"Yeah? You sounded pretty whipped from what I could hear." Taichi scrunched his face at his friend's words.

"Who cares? Dude, she said _love you bye_ at the end. _And_ we're going to get dinner somewhere." Dumb bastard was probably jealous.

Taichi knew Yamato had texted Mimi and he even knew that Mimi had replied back.

But his friend was being a stubborn asshole again and refusing to text back.

Why? Taichi couldn't fathom. Personally, Taichi preferred to call instead of text.

That way, the other party had no choice but to answer him in real time. None of that waiting and timing garbage. Tai had no time for that shit.

"Sounds like she's head over heels in love with you." Yamato retorted dryly as he rolled those stupid blue eyes and ran a hand through that stupid straw yellow hair.

"You're just bitter because you're too dumb to realize you're in denial."

"Why would I be in denial? About what?"

Taichi smirked at he grabbed a leather jacket tossed on the floor. The jacket was Matt's.

He pulled it on, knowing it annoyed the hell out of his friend and walked over to one of the many mirrors adorning the apartment as per _Yamato's_ request, of course.

Tai might be conceited. But Matt was a whole different level of narcissism.

He could see Yamato's reflection on the shiny surface and while the blonde tried to keep a composed air, Taichi could see he was obviously irritated.

Irritated with the statement about denial.

Irritated that Taichi looked better than he did in his own jacket (this one was a _probably_ , Taichi assumed _,_ although to be fair it wasn't Matt's fault that Tai had been blessed with a naturally athletic build).

Taichi deliberately took longer than usual to tame down his mess of wild brown hair, all the while keeping tabs on his friend's reaction.

When he finished messing around with his reflection, he turned around to see Matt sitting at the sofa holding the guitar but still as a statue.

"Bro, just text Mimi back. Take her out for dinner or something."

Yamato gave no indication that he heard Taichi and he started to strum a few chords on his Gibson guitar.

"Or you know, just stay home all night on a Friday brooding over a girl. Sounds like fun man."

Whatever.

If Yamato wanted to wallow in self pity and refuse to admit to himself that he was crazy about the girl, it wasn't any of Taichi's business.

 _Yeah but he's annoying as hell when he's like this. And I have to deal with it as his roommate._

Taichi hesitated, wondering if he should just drag out the blonde and have Sora bring Mimi but then it would ruin his own plans to just spend the evening in Sora's company _alone._

Yamato was a grown ass adult.

He could handle himself.

"Uh so I guess I'll see you later bro."

* * *

Yamato eyed the phone lying on the sleek glass coffee table. He eyed it like it was contaminated with e. coli or maybe something worse like c. diff.

Either way, the phone just served as a reminder of a pretty honeyed girl who may or may not be waiting for his reply.

He shook his head, his golden blonde hair falling softly over his eyes.

Goddamn it.

It bothered him that she could take up such a large space in his thoughts.

It bothered him that she was so easy to communicate with that sometimes all he needed was a fleeting glance or a subtle tilt of her pretty head to _understand_ her.

It bothered him that she understood _him_ just as well and that he stupidly told her all about his parents' divorce and how he and his brother Takeru had spent their childhood divided between them.

It bothered him that he _wanted_ her so badly yet he just wasn't able to bring himself to just touch her like with all the other girls he'd been with previously.

It bothered him that he actually cared what she thought of him, cared for her feelings and cared to listen to whatever stories she felt like telling.

Shit, she just had him bothered.

Yamato shut his eyes and rubbed at his temples. Taichi had been right.

"Ishida, you're an idiot."

The quiet apartment suddenly felt stuffy and constricting and he stood up, placing his guitar on the table. He grabbed the wretched phone and pulled on a black beanie over his blonde hair before heading out himself.

Yamato briefly wondered if he should follow his friend's advice and call Mimi but decided against it.

He needed to think. Sort out his feelings.

Without any particular destination in mind, he began to walk towards the setting sun. The chaotic crowds of people, taxis, trucks and bicycles filled the air with an exciting buzz and the scent of halal meat cooking on the street carts for gyros and platters made his mouth water.

Pushed by the movement of the crowd Yamato found himself in Soho, walking past a familiar odd pastel green storefront with gold trimmings.

The windows of the store were filled with pretty pastel boxes and mountains of macarons.

 _Laduree._

His mother, who was French, had loved to take her two boys for the famed almond pastries in the Parisian store when they were much younger and he remembered devouring dozens of the sugary colorful sweets as a child.

Yamato paused momentarily in front of the door before deciding he really did want to have some of those sugar bombs paired with strong bitter coffee.

A burst of almonds, sugar and vanilla hit Yamato as he stepped into the cafe before the pastel colors could even register to the blonde.

He stood before row after row of colorful macarons laid out behind a white counter where a few attendants stood at attention to take his order.

He ordered a few off of his memory. Yamato remembered his favorites had been vanilla, salted caramel and orange blossom to name a few and he waited as the attendant packaged them into a small box for him.

Perhaps he could even bring Mimi here the next time. She adored macarons.

She adored the color pink too, and the corners of his mouth tugged at a smile as he thought of her nibbling on a rose macaron.

Better yet, he could take her on holiday to Paris.

Mimi in Paris. Strolling along hand in hand the Champs Elysees, lazy afternoons at the Seine, dinner al fresco under the twinkling lights of Paris.

He'd kiss her too.

Yamato idly rubbed at his lips, wishing he could kiss her now. _I should call her, take her out to dinner._

Damn it. He hated it when Taichi was right. The bastard.

The cafe was mostly empty save for a few people sitting along the far wall besides large white marble statues and he scanned the room lazily for a lack of better things to do.

A weird feeling ran down the middle of his spine. It was rather unpleasant.

There, sitting with her back towards him was a familiar brunette, her long caramel hair pulled up into a messy bun. She was talking animatedly with her companion.

Her _male_ companion.

Yamato narrowed his eyes and studied the navy haired, bespectacled man closely. He seemed older than both himself and Mimi and the man seemed comfortable and relaxed in the presence of the girl.

A bitterness so acrid that it surprised Matt welled up from the pit of his stomach as he watched the man laugh at something Mimi said, reaching over to rub her slender arm gently.

Mimi, on her part, did nothing to dissuade the skinship between them as she continued on in her soft tinkling voice.

It seemed he had overestimated her affections for him and the tips of his ears burned red in equal parts anger and embarrassment.

 _It's for the better_ , he mused, _now I don't have to worry about being in denial or sorting my fucking feelings._

"Sir? Your total is $73."

Numbed, Yamato paid for the macarons he no longer wanted and tossed them into the garbage as he walked out.

And to think just minutes ago, he couldn't get the girl out of his mind.

 _You really are a goddamn idiot._

* * *

Mimi took a sip of her tea, her small hands cupped around the delicate china cup. Across the white marble table sat her old friend and former crush Jyou Kido.

It still caused Mimi to cringe every time she thought of how she had confidently declared her feelings to the older Jyou (he was now 26, 8 years her senior). _Oh god,_ she had even closed her eyes in expectations of being kissed.

But the tall, caring navy haired male had merely patted her head.

He'd said he was _flattered_ but sorry, he only saw her as a younger sister.

And she had refused to meet him for all of 2 weeks before Mimi was back to her routine.

Besides, they were old friends, what was a little awkwardness and embarrassment between old friends?

His father had performed her mother's c-section all those years ago and now Jyou was also starting his residency to become a doctor at NYU's Langone University Medical Center.

And she had bullied him into meeting her here, at Laduree, right after a hectic 7-3 shift at the emergency room.

( _And he came!_ It was a small victory that a pre-Ishida Mimi would have rejoiced at but alas, not anymore! _Although_ she couldn't deny seeing Jyou carry himself with the assuredness of a medical doctor excited her just a tiny bit!)

"Mimi, you just met the guy. Give him time. Not everyone can jump into a relationship with a stranger immediately like you." Jyou pushed up his horn rimmed glasses higher up on his nose. His dark round eyes looked tired and puffy and his shiny navy hair was in desperate need of styling.

It seemed her old flame couldn't even hold up a candle to her new love.

"Well, we're not strangers _anymore_ , Jyou. We've known each other for a _month_ now."

Jyou sighed as he took a bite of the mille feuille cake and sipped at his espresso.

"A month is barely enough time to get to know anyone, Mimi-chan. What you are going through right now is _hormones._ It'll pass, believe me."

Mimi rolled her eyes at him. She hated it when anyone patronized her. Especially Jyou.

"It's not just hormones. I swear, we have _so much chemistry._ And when we're together, everything just fits. But then he gets weird sometimes, like all of a sudden he won't respond to my texts or he'll refuse to get dinner with us or something. It's so annoying!"

She took out her phone and opened up her conversations with Yamato. Mimi thrust the phone into Jyou's face, startling him and causing him to splash drops of dark brown coffee onto his sky blue cuffs neatly fastened with shiny silver cufflinks.

He wiped at his shirt with a heavy silk napkin, clearly irritated at the girl sitting across from him and pointedly ignoring the glaringly bright display before him.

"Jyou. Look. This is ridiculous. For his every one text, I send like 3. It's ridiculous!"

Jyou peered at the conservations and rolled his eyes.

"Mimi. Your texts are one word replies with an emoji at best. I would hardly consider that 'proof' he's distancing himself from you."

"Ok, whatever. But I have this _feeling_ that he's avoiding me. Woman's intuition, say, and it's driving me craz-"

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel then? Ever consider your signals may not be so clear to the poor guy? Jeez."

Honey gold eyes glared at Jyou past the smudged glass lenses of his glasses and he gulped his drink nervously.

"Yeah well. We both know how well it turned out the _last_ time I confessed to someone."

"Hey! To be fair, you were a little kid. Hell, you still are a little kid. What am I doing here on my off time? I should be resting." Jyou grumbled but he still flashed Mimi a kind, apologetic smile. She waved it off, annoyed and embarrassed.

"Well, go rest then. Thank you for spending your afternoon talking to a _kid._ "

They both stood up from their table and made their way to the exit. It was a sunny but brisk early fall day and the five o'clock crowds were just starting to fill the streets.

Mimi turned to give Jyou a hug and he patted her hair affectionately, like she was a small child.

"It's good to see you, Jyou."

"Likewise. Take care and don't worry about...whatever his name was. It sounds like he likes you too. Remember, it takes 13 hours to build a Toyota and 6 months for a Rolls Royce. Girl like you should be gunning for a Bugatti."

Mimi laughed as she shook her head, her breath coming out in little puffs.

"Oh wow, you sound like my dad!"

"I was aiming for brother but oh wells."

"Good bye, Jyou. Take care and keep in touch!"

Jyou saluted her once before turning and melding effortlessly into the stream of people heading home.

 _A Bugatti, huh?_ If Yamato Ishida were a Bugatti, the damn car'd be made of solid 24 karat gold.

The thought made Mimi smile as she checked her phone once more for messages.

No new messages. _Yet._

Mimi hugged herself from all the warm and fluttery feelings in her chest. Yamato would come around.

 _And when he finally does, I'm just going to smother him in kisses._

* * *

 _Sorry the Taiora was so short, they'll be more prominent next chapter, I really do love writing Tai and Soa._

 _Sorry also for making Jyou so old but he needed to be in residency and it would really not make sense if he was only a few years older than them like in canon._

 _I will try to keep the angst to a minimum but hey, they are teenagers haha. Well anyways, thanks for reading, please R &R :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Because of You**

disclaimer:i don't own digimon! :(

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!

* * *

Mimi chewed idly at the end of her pen as her caramel eyes stared across the way at a brooding blonde sitting with his back to her.

 _God_ , even the sight of his brilliantly gold hair peaking out from under his knit beanie made her chest go aflutter.

Resting her chin in one hand, Mimi sighed heavily as she wished she had the courage to storm up to him and demand why he'd been avoiding her as of late.

 _But seriously, why did he change all of a sudden?_

Her brow furrowed as she thought of his radio silence. In fact, she could almost pinpoint the exact time it started although she couldn't, for the life of her, fathom why.

She unlocked her phone and opened up her messages, cringing when she realized it's been so long since they last texted that his messages had already been buried under a plethora of other texts.

Their text history was even more mortifying as the last, _hm, 10? I really sent him 10 messages already and he hasn't even bothered to reply._

 _Not even once._

Mimi felt a hot anger bubbling up from deep inside her, indignant at the thought of being ignored.

How dare he ignore her. Who the hell did he think he was?

Mimi Tachikawa was not used having things denied her as the only daughter of billionaires Keisuke and Satoe Tachikawa.

Sure Jyou Kido had turned down her feelings but he'd continued to treat her exactly the same and therefore, Mimi took it as a quasi-admittance of his feelings-after all, brothers don't exactly _flirt_ back with their sisters, do they?

 _Ugh, unless he wasn't flirting back and I'm just really, terribly misinterpreting male signals. Like, OMG if that's the case then it might be possible that I blew things out of context and oh god, there was nothing between me and Yamato to begin with and I just made a fool of myself and WHY oh WHY did my parents have me tutored privately?!  
_

 _Like, why couldn't I have gone to a regular high school where I could have interacted with regular boys and then I wouldn't be pulling my hair out-literally-over a stupid boy that doesn't even know the best thing that's ever happened to him is just sitting 20 meters behind him._

Well. Not literally.

Mimi loved her hair, she'd never pull it out.

Although in a fit of boredom, she had it first bleached blonde then a couple days later dyed a light pastel pink, the color of strawberry macarons.

She thought the pink hair rather suited her.

 _But it's true,_ she whined to herself silently as she tapped her foot impatiently against the white marbled floor of the library, _I am the best thing that will ever happen to Yamato Ishida._

 _I know it's true._

 _Because he's the best thing that's ever happened to me._

 _And a lot of good things have happened to me._

She quickly gathered her books, papers and pens and dumped it all hastily into her Birkin before strolling towards the blonde.

Her legs felt leaden, and Mimi swallowed nervously. _Well, if anything you can just say hi, maybe ask him if he wants coffee._

* * *

Yamato Ishida stared outside the large domed windows where the rain fell slanted against the glass. It was dreary, it was dark and it matched his mood lately.

He knew the angst would pass, eventually (hopefully) but the rainy October weather just made it so goddamn easy to brood.

The blonde did not want to study business, did not want to take over the family corporation, did not want to think about a particular girl with glowy eyes.

The last few weeks had been agonizing, and while he'd hung out with Taichi and Sora a couple of times, he'd mostly stuck to himself. New York had a plethora of live music and drinks were easy to be had, either with his fake ID or otherwise.

Yamato sighed as he tapped a finger against his temple. He was comfortable, nestled into one of the brown leather armchairs in the dark hushed library, but he was starting to get restless.

He'd managed to pick up smoking recently, much to Tai's chagrin, and the urge to light up suddenly hit him.

Closing his laptop and placing it into his backpack, Yamato stretched and studied his reflection in the window as he pulled on his black coat. He was attractive, he knew, and it was easy for him to play his looks to his advantage when he wanted to have fun.

 _I should hit up the bars tonight, get wasted and laid._

He briefly wondered what Taichi's plans were for the evening but then remembered his friend was newly dating.

 _The bastard's probably with Sora, I haven't seen him in a while._

Yamato considered hanging out with the couple but quickly dismissed the idea as seeing the ginger would remind him too much of her friend.

Mimi.

 _Goddamn it. Don't think about her._

Too late. Already his mind began to wander to the last time he'd seen the now pink haired girl.

A couple of days ago, maybe? She had been with a group of people he hadn't recognized and Yamato had waited like a goddamn stalker in the shadows, watching her as she walked by, her laugh tinkling in the air as a different blonde had an arm slung over her shoulders.

He was annoyed to think he'd been the only object of her affections-her myriad of text messages could still indicate that he was-but her actions proved otherwise.

 _-Maybe she's just really friendly?_ Yamato snorted in annoyance as his conscience (which, even more goddamn annoyingly so was _always_ in Taichi's voice, that bastard-everyone knew he was no angel either!) tried to play devils' advocate.

 _Ok, yeah so say she's really friendly. Then that just makes me a fucking retard for thinking there was something more to begin with, you douche._

 _-Well there's nothing wrong with being friendzoned first, you stupid fucker._

 _Shut the hell up, Kamiya. This is my head. And besides, I don't even care that she's friendly with everyone. She freaks me the hell out._

 _-Why now? You have an excuse for everything, you know that? It's fucking annoying._

 _You're fucking annoying. And anyways...she's...just too much like my...well_ her. _Mimi's too much like_ her.

 _-Touche, man. Can't believe you just pulled the mommy issues card._

 _Fuck off, Kamiya. You wouldn't understand._

Angrily, Yamato bent down and picked up his backpack, pulling it on by the straps when he thought he saw Mimi flicker for the briefest of moments against the glass before she was gone.

He blinked, confused, and turned around but there was no one around him but a handful of students studying at a group table, their faces illuminated by the light of green glass lamps.

 _Ah shit. She's haunting me. I'm being haunted by the ghost of a girl and she's not even dead._

 _The fuck does that make me?_

Yamato shook his head slightly before heading towards the exit.

* * *

Taichi grinned as Sora bit into the top of a soup dumpling gingerly. Rainy cold days called for soup dumplings and the best soup dumplings were to be had in Chinatown.

Short of going to Shanghai, of course, but these would have to do. And when Sora told him she'd never had those little pockets of love laced with crack cocaine, he'd practically fainted.

He'd closed their books immediately and ushered her out of his apartment where they'd been 'studying' (or rather, Sora had been studying, he'd been reading manga on his tablet).

Taichi hailed a cab and within the hour they were sitting at a round table with another Chinese couple and their two small children with steaming stacks of bamboo steamers before them.

Sora's ruby eyes widened as the flavorful broth hit her palate before she closed her eyes in one of the most contented sighs Taichi had ever seen.

"Pretty good, huh?"

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, these are amazing. I could easily see myself getting addicted to these."

"I told you they were good." Taichi grabbed one for himself and was about to stuff it whole into his mouth-burns be damned- when Sora leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"But do they always seat people like this here?" Taichi glanced over at the family sharing their table as the parents placed food onto their children's plates.

The brunette shrugged. "Only when it's busy. But it's always busy here, so yeah, I guess? Why, does it bother you?"

Sora shook her head, a warm smile gracing her face. "No, it's just, I've never ate like this before. It's an experience. I love it."

Taichi felt warm and fuzzy inside and he wondered if this was how teddy bears felt all the time before he leaned down and kissed Sora gently on the lips. She tasted a little salty from the ginger soy sauce with a slight fruity scent cutting through from her lipgloss and the slight touch of their lips sent shivers down his spine.

"Tai, there's kids right in front of us," Sora chided him in a whisper but her eyes were twinkling and he knew she felt the shivers as well.

He looked over as the small boy, his eyes round, stared at the couple mouth agape while the little girl smiled shyly at back. The parents, thank god, either did not notice or were wisely choosing to ignore them as they told their children to eat in sharp Cantonese.

The kids did as they were told and when they looked away, Taichi turned his gaze to Sora and their eyes met.

Taichi noted for the umpteenth time that she had the loveliest and most unique eyes he's ever seen, bringing a bright red flush to the tips of his ears.

 _Ah fuck, thank god I didn't get a haircut yet._

The couple broke out in small giggles, the awkwardness of the situation amusing the fuck out of them before they resumed eating.

Pretty soon they had finished through all those steamers and Taichi groaned as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, fuck, I'm so full!" He exclaimed as he ran a hand across his now distended stomach.

 _Oh shit, the kids!  
_

Taichi snapped his eyes open to see the mother glaring at the brunette while the boy giggled behind his hands. Sora smiled apologetically at the mother.

"I'm sorry, he didn't mean to curse in front of your kids."

"It's ok," the mother mumbled as her glare relaxed and the parents began to talk to each other in rapid Chinese. Sora looked up at him and Tai smiled sheepishly at her.

"Thanks for the save, babe."

She rolled her eyes. "If you're really thankful, then you're picking up the tab."

"Aww, Sora, what if I didn't bring my wallet?" He teased her and watched as she swatted at him annoyed.

He grabbed her hand and before she could pull away, kissed it.

"Oh my god, Tai, you are a work of art."

 _-Whipped, Tai. This girl's got you whipped._

Ishida's annoying voice broke through his giddiness and Taichi mentally flipped him off. Who the hell was he to give him relationship observations when the bastard just sat around home smoking those fucking cigarettes stinking up the apartment while sighing every once in awhile.

Damn he was annoying.

"Hey, what's got you down all of a sudden?" Sora gently placed a hand against his shoulder, breaking into Taichi's thoughts.

He quickly broke into a smile, although he knew it didn't quite nearly reach his eyes.

"Eh it's nothing really. Just Matt and his stubborn ass driving me crazy." At the mention of his blonde friend, Sora's brow also crumpled and he immediately regretted bringing up the moody bastard.

He had a talent, that one, for ruining everyone's mood. Even when he wasn't even present.

"I don't really get him either. Mimi's hung up over it, too. Did he ever tell you why he suddenly went emo?" Her large doe eyes blinked slowly and Tai was just about done talking about Yamato Ishida already.

"No, not really. He mentioned something about lilies but I doubt it's about flowers. Anyways, enough about him. I'm starting to get jealous." Taichi grinned as he nipped the tip of Sora's nose, making her smile.

"Ok then. What do you want to talk about?" She raised an eyebrow at him as Tai turned away from her, asking for their tab and the tab for the family sitting in front of them.

"It's not what I want to _talk_ about, babe. It's what I want to _do._ "

"Really? Well, it's a shame really that I have to go home to study." The redhead grinned teasingly as Taichi groaned and covered his eyes.

"Babe, for reals? You're going to pull that card again? I think I'm allergic to studying-it's giving me hives!"

"Hives, though!" Her laughter resonated loudly as Tai struggled to keep his pout. Usually a pout earned him a kiss and Taichi would do anything for those kisses short of wearing a fucking tutu and doing tricks like a circus animal.

Annnd Sora reached up for a quick peck on the underside of his jaw. SCORE!

A goofy smile spread across his handsome features as he hastily scribbled his signature onto the two checks, writing a generous tip without bothering to do the calculations.

Smiling at the family in front of them, the two got up to leave, Taichi helping Sora into her trench coat in a rare show of chivalry (he had to admit, begrudgingly, that Matt was halfway right. If it had been any other chick, he wouldn't have bothered to help but Sora…Damn what was it about her that had him melted into little puddles everywhere like doggy shit on the streets of the city?)

"So we'll go back to my place. To study, yeah?" A wicked twinkle shined in his eyes as Sora blushed.

"Yes. To study, of course. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"What?! I didn't even say anything!"

"Uh huh. Sure. It's written all over your face, mister."

"Stop putting words in my mouth, babe. We'll study. Promise."

* * *

 _Study my ass,_ Sora thought as she lazed around on Tai's sofa in the ridiculously decked out apartment he shared with Matt. A large fire had been lit in the impressive oversized marble fireplace after the couple managed to get soaked in the late autumn rain and they'd spent all their time snuggling under covers.

He'd said his family was well off in Japan and that they were in the shipping business but he hadn't been too specific.

Sora wondered if that meant his parents knew hers and Mimi's parents as well. And if that meant Matt was well off as well.

 _Speaking of Mimi, I haven't heard from her the whole day. I wonder where she is,_ Sora mused to herself as she reached for her phone.

No messages. No missed calls. Nothing.

 _Hmmm._

This was very suspicious. Mimi sent a million texts a day, even if just to send an infuriating 'ok' or 'hey' with nothing following.

The last time Mimi didn't contact her for a day, she'd gone off and dyed her hair pink. And gotten a tattoo on the nape of her neck- a tiny cactus flower, her family company's logo.

"Something wrong?" Taichi's arms tightened around her as he nuzzled his prickly jaw into her shoulder.

"Mm. Just thinking I haven't heard from Mimi today. I hope she's ok." Sora secretly hoped her friend wouldn't come home today with her nipples pierced or something extreme like that.

Knowing Mimi, she just might- _albeit nothing as crazy as her nipples-hopefully. Maybe another set of holes on her ears? Or maybe her belly button?_

"It's like you're her mother. Relax, Sora, I promise she's fine."

Sora shifted in his arms so they were face to face.

"Oh, hello there, beautiful." Taichi grinned as he gave her an Eskimo kiss.

Her nose crinkled in amusement. He never failed to make her smile and she leaned in for a kiss, an electrifying spark traveling down her body as he gently bit her lower lip. Whatever thoughts she'd had just previously had evaporated, leaving her highly perceptive to his every touch.

 _We should have just gone to the library._

* * *

Mimi had just barely enough time to dive into a seat next to a skinny Asian kid typing furiously on a shiny new MacBook Air and hide behind the mountain of books, papers and hiking backpack that the kid had thankfully deposited onto the table.

Who would have thought the second she decided to go up to him, Yamato Ishida would decide to get up and leave?!

Ugh, and why did her courage leave her at such a crucial moment?! She'd been planning on just saying hello and catching up with the blonde-it wouldn't have mattered if he was on his way out.

 _In fact, I could have even asked if he was going to get coffee or something to eat or something and it would have been so, so easy!_

Argh! Was the universe against her or something?!

Her large caramel eyes peered over the top of the hiking backpack, watching as the beautiful blonde breezed by her-never once looking around like the cool, collected person that he was-walking like he was on the catwalk for Saint Laurent Homme.

 _And owning it, too._

Mimi's eyes followed him down the corridor until he finally reached the stairs and disappeared from view.

A rather loud sigh escaped her as she settled back into the chair.

The Asian kid had stopped typing and was now eyeing her with the blankest expression she'd ever seen. He blinked his dark eyes (they were so dark Mimi would've described them as all black except of course no one _truly_ had black eyes-dark brown maybe but not black!) slowly, his thick but shapely eyebrows arched so high they almost disappeared under his hair (if his hair had been down-of course it wasn't as the kid had the foresight to style it back and away from his face).

"Oh, um hi, I'm Mimi Tachikawa." She smiled, regaining her composure as she held out her hand.

The kid took it after a moment of hesitation.

"I know who you are. We're in the same English comp. But I'm Koushiro Izumi." EH?! Really?! Mimi could have sworn she'd never seen this guy before!

"Oh really? Are you sure? Oh I'm sorry!" She gave a shaky airy laugh as she fixed her hair-it had gotten all out of place when she'd dived for cover-seriously Mimi couldn't think of the last time she'd moved so fast.

"It's ok. Um. Can you, er," Koushiro stammered a bit as he gestured at the stack of papers that Mimi had inadvertently sat down on, "I kind of need that."

"Oh! Sorry, yeah, you can take them!" Mimi lifted her butt off the seat so that the redhead-Mimi noticed his hair was a nice dark burgundy color and wondered if he got it done?-could retrieve the papers before promptly sitting back down again.

"Is that for English?" She asked peering over his shoulder as he tried to spread the wrinkles from her bum out from the pages.

"No." Mimi waited for him to articulate more on the matter but he just continued to examine the sheets of paper, a slight frown wrinkling his brow. After a few moments, she sighed, catching the guy's attention.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just trying to gather myself up. Sorry for barging in on you like that and really sorry again for forgetting you, Kou."

"Stop saying sorry. And call me Izzy." Mimi blinked at the slim boy next to her.

She took the time to study this strange kid. Nondescript buttondown in a strange burnt orange over a pair of dark rinse jeans that fit pretty well. Comfortable boots, a well worn leather belt in a cognac color and a fancy watch rounded out his look.

 _Not bad. Sure he's no Matt but he's pretty cute, this Izzy._

She immediately took a liking to him. The way he brushed her off was almost refreshing- _at least he didn't pretend to like me for a month before ignoring me like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe-oh wait. Yamato'd have actually noticed me if I was chewed gum on the bottom of his shoe._

 _This is even worse! He just flat out treats me like I'm invisible! Me! What the hell, I even dyed my hair pink-although it wasn't for him to notice-but still!_

Mimi scowled before taking out a compact mirror, checking out her makeup before closing it and turning towards Izzy, mildly annoyed.

"Geez, you don't really talk much, do you?" She asked as she leaned her head against his massive backpack. Mimi wondered if Koushiro actually carried around all that stuff and wondered if this was what really smart kids were like.

"No."

"Oh. Well, it's almost 2, did you eat yet? I'm starving."

"No. Why are you still talking to me? The blonde's already gone." EH?!

Mimi froze as she stared at her new companion in shock.

"Um...I…"

Koushiro waved his hand at her before turning back to type. "If you didn't want to make it seem so obvious, the least you could have done was turn the pages in your book every once in awhile. It's a wonder he didn't feel your eyes burning into the back of his head."

A blush burned a deep red across Mimi's cheeks as she buried her face into Koushiro's backpack.

"Oh my god! This is so embarrassing! How'd you even know?!" She moaned, shaking her head as her face ran against the rough surface of the bag. She could die from the embarrassment, omg!

Koushiro shrugged and brusquely told her to keep her voice down, otherwise they both were at risk of being evicted from the library.

They were silent again for a few more minutes, the sound of his typing oddly comforting.

Then a loud grumble from Koushiro's stomach broke through the silence and Mimi grinned triumphantly.

"So you are hungry! Come on, Iz, let's go get burgers or something. My treat. And you can tell where you found out about me and Matt. Or you know, just talk to me about Matt."

"No. I'm going to go home in a half hour. I'll just get something to eat there."

"Home? Where's home? Is it close by?"

Koushiro sighed and was about to tell her off when his stomach emitted an even louder growl.

"On second thought, I could go for some burgers."

"See? That wasn't so bad."

Mimi smiled as her new friend rolled his eyes. He might be gruff but she suspected he might be soft and gooey under the exterior. _Like a certain someone but no, you are not going to think about him right now._

* * *

The nicotine flooded his system all at once and Yamato felt his anxiety ebb away as each breath brought him a sense of peace.

He couldn't shake off the strange feeling of being abandoned again even though he knew this time, he was the one doing the abandoning.

She had been there, he was certain. There was no mistaking the scent of lilies with the hint of vanilla and the awful aching in his chest had started once he had gotten a whiff of her.

So much like his mother. Beautiful, spontaneous, free spirited, quick to fall in love-almost to a fault. Yamato was sure he loved his mother too, until one day when he was ten she decided she needed _more in life_ , whatever the fuck that was. She kissed him good night and was gone with his younger brother TK the next morning.

Two days later his father shipped him off to some shitty boarding school.

The last he heard, she and TK were somewhere in the Amazonian rainforest, documenting lost tribes or shit like that. She'd sent a postcard. Yamato barely glanced at it before leaving it for the housekeepers to throw out.

 _Women like your mother will only bring headaches. They'll love you until a better opportunity comes along and then you'll find yourself alone._

Well, alone and saddled with a massive divorce settlement and alimony.

"Yeah? Well, fuck you." Yamato mumbled to himself as he ground the cigarette out with his heel.

It was unfair to Mimi but Yamato felt a sense of...of vindication, hurting her like this. If vindication felt like a nice clean stab to the gut.

 _If she was even hurting to begin with. She seemed to get along just fine with her navy haired friend, the blonde one, the other blonde one-shit does she have a thing for blondes?_

 _She'd have broken up with you anyways. After she's had enough of your insecurities and abandonment issues._

Yamato was about to start the brisk walk back to his apartment when a flash of cheery pink caught his eye.

There she was, her face flushed to match her hair and alight with one of her amazing smiles. He thought the world of those smiles and marvelled at how the apples of her cheeks seemed to glow as the bridge of her nose slightly crinkled.

For a brief moment, Yamato's determination wavered and he gripped his hand into a fist as he contemplated going over to say hello when he noticed the small redhead in tow.

Koushiro Izumi. He'd seen the guy about campus and had heard about him from Taichi as they were paired together for their chemistry 101 lab.

"You have any place in mind, Iz? I'm not really too picky." Mimi's voice was soft and airy but at the same time had the crispness of a fine Riesling.

Yamato remembered the pink haired girl had a penchant for the flowery, sparkling white wine and a bitter taste flooded his insides as he realized she'd called him by a nickname.

"Matt?"

Shit.

He should have moved or at least gotten out of the way. But no, he had to just stand there like an idiot just in front of the library's entrance.

"Hey." His voice sounded calm but the inside of his mouth felt dry, like he was about to vomit. Yamato swallowed, keeping his eyes level and emotionless.

 _Her_ eyes, he noticed, looked all watery and soft as they shimmered even in the cloudy overcast day.

"It's been a while, huh? How've you been?"

Matt shrugged. _Fucking brilliant_ was on the tip of his tongue.

"Good, you?"

She smiled then, all coy and shit before pulling Izumi out from beside her.

"Matt, I want you to meet my friend Izzy. We're in the same English class. Iz, this is Matt. He's um, Tai's friend."

The two boys acknowledged each other with wary eyes and Izumi fidgeted with his phone.

"Nice to meet you, Matt. Sorry to cut this short but I have to get home. See you in class tomorrow, Mimi." The redhead gave a short wave and attempted to walk away when Mimi grabbed his arm.

"Wait, we were supposed to get something to eat!" She hissed, her face now a furious red.

Izumi smirked in Yamato's direction. "Sorry, something came up. But hey, maybe Matt can take you instead. I'm sure you guys'll have fun."

"No, wait, KOUSHIRO!" Mimi yelled after him but the skinny kid melted away into the throngs of people heading towards campus. She looked after him for a few more moments and Yamato took advantage of the moment to take a few deep breaths, trying to calm the angry motors grinding away in his chest.

When it became painfully apparent that Izumi wasn't coming back, she turned back to him, her eyes carefully averted from his. Seconds went by in awkward silence.

Yamato couldn't help but feel a tingle start up in his chest as the turbulence died down, an excitement that he couldn't quite contain.

 _Fuck it. No more excuses, Ishida. At least not for today._

"I, um. Sorry. You're probably busy and I don't want to intru-"

"I'm going to go get some ramen. You want to come with?" Yamato interrupted her before she had a chance to get away. It was awkward and a terrible fucking blow to his ego but goddamn it.

He was tired. And she was here. And she was goddamn beautiful.

She looked at him with shock, her dewey caramel eyes finally meeting his for the first time in ages. Another of her amazing smiles crept up her face as she nodded, adjusting her coat.

"Ramen, huh? Perfect for a rainy day."

* * *

Yay! So Koushiro finally makes an entrance! :D

Thanks for reading and drop a review please :)


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